I went in to the city Thursday morning to have breakfast with my sister-in-law, and to do some shopping. We ate at The Bluebird Cafe, a place I've always wanted to try, and it surely lived up to its reputation. My SIL was pleased to have so many herb teas to choose from, and I made a build-your-own omelet with cheese, onions, and tomatos. Rye toast and home fries on the side...yum!

Then, we walked over to Magazine Street and did some browsing. I especially enjoyed the art glass gallery, and my SIL bought a lovely broach as a gift for her daughter at Recycled.

At Accents and Accessories Ltd., I saw something I'd never seen before - a Mardi Gras tree. When I commented on it aloud, the shopkeeper took the time to tell me that he usually takes down the Christmas decorations, but they've been selling so well (hand-blown Egyptian glass with 14K gold paint accents) that they decided to leave it up all year, and so he had to set up a separate tree for Mardi Gras. And ("y'all aren't from New Orleans?") it's a common local practice to take down the Christmas decorations and redecorate the tree for Mardi Gras. It seems like a strange practice, but then, I remember the year I redecorated my silver aluminum Christmas tree for Valentine's Day.